Coming to America from Buenavista, Mexico at the age of 12 was a decision born of my father wanting to improve the quality of his family’s life. He had heard stories of how wonderful America was, its diversity, and how many prospects there were, just waiting to be utilized. A general lack of opportunity plagues the state of Jalisco, Mexico, with very few resources for personal and professional development and a lack of social systems in place to turn to for help. I have walked more than a mile in the shoes of the immigrant, entering into a develop nation without knowing a word of English. Indeed, growing up in East Los Angeles made me personally aware of the assorted difficulties facing inner-city youth: acculturation, poverty, childcare inadequacies, racism, discrimination, and language issues.

Rising above the odds and a family that is divided between academics and farmers, I have excelled. More importantly, I am raising my own family. To their future and mine, I will be a role model for what can be achieved through hard work, determination and pride in your heritage. I used to think that management consultancy was what truly mattered, and where I aimed to leave my mark. My priorities have shifted, and after a great deal of soul searching, I want to use my education, experiences and heartfelt compassion for minorities, the disadvantaged and underserved populations that need to be given every opportunity and encouragement to rise above their circumstances. Now more than ever, in this economic climate, there has never been a more important time for people of all walks of life to develop themselves, aiding in the reconstruction efforts.

My path to Stanford has been paved with personal, scholastic and professional experiences that have led me to see a distinct need for organizational leadership within the American education system that I believe can do better. In this golden age of equal opportunity, it is time to give all children equal opportunities for academic success.

In terms of my research interests within the School of Education’s Ed.D. Organization Studies program, I am focusing my energies in the area of organizational leadership and management of K-12 schools, universities, and non-profit and governmental organizations. More specifically, I want to examine the evolution, organizational and technological impacts on higher education or governmental organizations concerning emerging technologies, retired legacy technologies, Baby Boomers approaching retirement, coupled with the necessary leadership traits to successfully manage and lead these transitions. Moreover, I plan on comparing and contrasting, in detail, the overall US’ entities performance against other countries. Overall, I would like to increase my depth of understanding in the study of societal, human and technological forces affecting complex higher education and governmental organizations. Through researching these contemporary issues, upon graduating, I will be able to question, analyze and develop creative sustainable solutions to complex organization-wide problems such as technological, societal, human capital or financial issues.

XXXX’s Ed.D. Program in Organization studies will pave the way to bringing my career plans and social goals to fruition, namely becoming an active professor and researcher, and or part of a university’s administration. As a participant in a university setting, upon increasing my exposure, I envision contributing as a director or vice president of recruitment or advising. Whichever path, opportunities or challenges lay ahead, I want to become a leader who will influence the nature of educational organizations.

As a Latino professor in a university setting, I will have the ability to reach, as a role model, and through my work, both in the lecture hall and in volunteer or outreach work, to encourage Latino and Hispanic to complete four-year degrees, as well as pursuing doctoral degrees. In a recent edition of the Washington Post, I read an interesting quote from Peter Zamora, a regional counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund that underlines the urgency of need among Latinos: “When Latino students were a small percentage of the population, [their needs] didn’t need to be a significant concern of policymakers. But when one out of five students is Hispanic, this isn’t a Latino issues, this is an American issue.” An “American issue”. These few words have stuck in my mind, giving fuel to my desire to help more than ever, in the face of social stigmas, discrimination and misperception, education has never been more critical. Reducing the number of Latinos/Hispanics that drop out at all levels of schooling is among my objectives. By accomplishing this, my dreams will be that much more easily obtained, specifically, the betterment of under-represented communities by reducing gang formation by encouraging community involvement, and sharpening our overall educational performance state and countrywide. As a professor and university administrator, I will be living proof of what Latinos can accomplish through discipline, commitment and motivation.

I bring with me to the student body a solid academic foundation combined with practical experiences working for some of the world’s largest and most prestigious management consulting firms, such as Deloitte, BearingPoint and Gartner. The impetus for my pursuing an Ed.D stems from these experiences, eleven years of being involved with aiding university executives, presidents, VPs, CIOs, chancellors, and provosts, with business and technology strategies, mapping out plans for procuring newer more relevant and applicable technologies, terminating older technologies and recommending business process improvement strategies for improving recruiting, marketing, admissions, financial reporting, budgeting, financial aid and other key student administrative processes. The work put me in touch with many of the complex business problems, practical concerns, both common and upcoming issues involved in educational institutions and government agencies.

Already I have been heavily involved in the community, reaching out to Latinos and Hispanics, using my unique heritage and fluency in Spanish. The work has developed my interpersonal skills, leadership abilities, and ability to speak confidently in front of groups of diverse individuals. Connecting with other Latinos comes easily, as we share similar backgrounds and experiences, and teaching groups of Latino youths in large classroom setting was extremely rewarding. Coaching Latinos in sports and life skills, to think for themselves, develop their minds, move away from gangs and get back into school found me in chair roles with a number of organizations serving schools districts of the Chico, California community. I feel confident that I can make a difference teaching in the classroom and researching within a quality educational institution. By pushing more Latinos and Hispanics to go as far they can in academia, we can positively impact the statistics that show a lack of Latino representation in the ranks of America’s professors.

America’s classrooms are only becoming increasingly diverse in terms of the cultures, and creeds they embody. To this end, aside from my own heritage, my work has taken me to five of the world’s continents, and I am developing my grasp of a third language. My international assignments have increased my ability to interact and communicate effectively with people of myriad backgrounds, as well as putting me in touch with managing large complex system implementations and business transformation projects. With this worldview, I have an excellent grasp of the information and educational needs of many nations, a foundation of understanding that will prove invaluable in my research.

XXXX’s School of Education is my sole choice for academic development, impressing me at every turn in my research with the breadth and autonomy of its curriculum. Moreover, its dynamic student body, amazing faculty and access to seemingly limitless resources and research grants makes Stanford stand out from the background noise of other schools. More importantly, after reviewing the School of Education’s faculty’s contributions to the field, I feel that the mindset and thrust of research is directly in line with my own ambitions.

The prospect of attending XXXX is incredibly exciting to me. Thank you for your time and consideration and I look forward to a personal interview.